Video of my box break of 2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Baseball. This is one of Panini’s first baseball product releases since securing an MLBPA license. The company still only has one of the two licenses historically required to make baseball cards, the other being a license with Major League Baseball that allows them to use team names and logos on cards.

The result is cards that show MLB players in pseudo uniforms with blank baseball hats. Panini pulls it off admirably in what is a well designed card, but the lack of any logos is still a marked omission as you thumb through the cards.

Regardless, some stronger competition amongst companies is just what the baseball card world needs to get companies to start pushing the envelope in card design and insert quality through competition.